Villa Life
In the Westerland, the concept of the Villa was an early idea, one that later would be replaced by Manor Houses. The Villa was a defensible and very large compound farm, that typically consisted of four or six wings, forming either one square with a courtyard, or two squared, divided by a wall, with a gate leading through the wing on one end, which was typically also the stable building, and the wing on the opposite end being the Manor itself, but they came in many designs. Origin The first Villas sprung from basic homesteads that grew in size and expanded as families grew to amounts that could populate small villages. Because farm work was highly seasonal, it was not necessary to form a whole village simply to farm a large portion of land - at least not come the Bronze Age of mankind and the tools it brought with it, and so the villas were made to house seasonal workers, but not to accommodate their families and personal needs. Owners In the early times of the Westerlands, the owners of Villas were commonly relatives or friends of the elite of the nearby city, but with the dawn of the feudal ages, the owners of villas became Hereditary Knights in place of friends and relatives, with their male relatives becoming squires and bannerets - though it was in truth not too different from the earlier periods, when the owner was often a respected land-owner, but his sons and close relatives would serve as "Knights" (privileged soldiers, often leaders) in the local military, as he had himself probably done earlier in life. Significance It was not a mere convenience that it was men of war who owned these villas. Historically, the owners of Villas raised horses for war, harbored weapons and provisions to house moving troops and knew how to train troops and lead men in war, but more importantly, they and their families had or did serve the local authority in a military capacity, creating a lasting bond of dependency that went both ways. Strategic Importance Roads were made so that the goods farmed at the Villas could travel safely to the nearby cities, where the owners of the Villa drew protection from and pledged their lives to - and large cities were often surrounded by hundreds of villas, and it was often difficult to appear at a settlement without passing by, or even through a villa - as many villas served both as Inns and as Garrisons, with some later entirely altering their nature to fit such roles. Design The Villa was almost always of a large compound of some sort, where each wing formed a "wall" that protected the courtyard. The outward windows were often too small to enter or exit through, and sat high from the ground making it impossible to reach them from the ground without the use of a ladder, and usually the Manor itself sat even more well protected, often facing outward in a direction that was regarded as highly improbable to approach from, such overlooking a steep descent. The villa would often sit atop a hill if possible, and surrounded by open land with the woodline (if any) far in the distance, making unnoticed approach very difficult, and there was often only a single road leading through the lands of a villa. Significance Villas were isolated by choice - a clan, bloodline or "house" (extended family) owned the villa together, with one individual appointed absolute leader and controller of the estate, and was under the military protection of their patron city, but there was no one close to the villa to challenge authority, land ownership or weigh down upon the produced food and goods - with no dead-weight, the Villas were prone to bountiful yields, due to few mouths to feed, and all who lived there being trained in the arts of war, living in a minor fortification. Contrast There was a significant difference between a villa and, respectively, villages, towns and cities. Versus Village A village often sprouted around villa, outside of a city or near a fortification, and consisted of people who claimed or rented small amounts of land, but largely provided needed labor both in and out of season to the nearby landowner who held villa, city or fort - while not every villa gave cause for a village to appear near it, many villas did eventually see a village grow around it, and would come to rely on the villagers - but when this wasn't the case, Villas were often in harsh competition with Villages for off-season work in the cities, which eventually lead to most Villa-dwellers seeking Military work, and possibly lead to the decision to withhold certain military positions entirely for those who dwelt in villas. Versus Towns Towns would appear wherever there was usually work to be had, but no particular quality of life to be had - often in mountains where mines could be dug, or deep in the wild where peat could be dug, or wood harvested aplenty - far from the farmlands and woods preserved for sport, with each log spoken for, with purpose to make fire. It was no unusual to find a different type of villa in such a location - though more of a mansion, or minor castle, often belonging to the overseer or owner of the local operations. Towns were often remote, of little concern and were often poorly protected in regards to actual defenses, but had relatively high concentrations of warriors, to keep the many people there in check. Towns were often among the primary customers of villas, and it was not unusual for a town's "owner" to be a villa-owner, living in a distant place, reaping the rewards of the hard work performed at a cruder location, where food was a commodity. Versus Cities Cities typically consisted of a bailey where the granary, treasury, armory and barracks were found, along with the keep and court, and then there was the citadel - the walled part of the city, often a small neighborhood where the courtiers, the merchants, the artisans and the families of soldiers lived. Surrounding this, there was often the Ramparts, the common district of the city, ever expanding, often consisting of "blocks" - buildings with atriums (used for laundry, toilets, some cooking and many other chores requiring outdoor space), often consisting of four wings and with two or more floors above ground, featuring small apartments that laborers could live in with their immediate family, with all laborers in a single "block" usually working for the same individual, but not always so. Cities often featured a village that extended out past the city itself and could feature ports - so not all cities were incapable of producing food, but almost no city was self-sufficient, and they relied heavily upon villas to provide, and in turn, during the off-season, it was the very same individuals who came to work the villas during harvest season vacations, and relatives of the Villa Owners who hold military position within the cities. Placement A well-functioning villa could farm incredible amounts of land. The patches of land in between were often populated by villagers who farmed where land-owners did not possess sole right of the land. This, however meant that villas were not just plopped down where the reach of the former one ended. The choicest largest collections of uninterrupted arable land was set aside for the manufacture of villas. Because of this, villages (some which grew large) could often be found at the cross-roads between multiple Villas, and the Villa owners often held considerable sway over the nearby villages.